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Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

Yesterday I went to the press preview for Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met. WOWZA! The drama was mind-blowing.The best words are McQueen's own on the walls throughout.“There is no way back for me now. I am going to take you on journeys you’ve never dreamed were possible.” "I’m a romantic schizophrenic"

Costume Institute curator Anthony Boltan, reminded us of McQueen's favorite Shakespeare quote from Midsummer's Night Dream,"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind..." Sarah Burton (Creative Director at McQueen and designer of Kate's wedding dress) told of 'Lee' coming in Monday morning with a pile of mussel shells he'd picked up on the beach on Sunday... And making a shell bustier on the spot.

McQueen (of Scottish descent) created a 'Rape of Scotland' collection to express his political anger at England and often showed up at events in tartan kilts...

There are McQueen tartan items in the gift shop and you don't have to be Scottish to wear them...

Stella McCartney studied with McQueen at St. Martins, on Savile Row and when they arrived together in Paris early days, Lee said,

"Come on Stell, let's start my empire!"

The idea of the sublime-An unfettered emotionalism-Primativism -Naturalism-Exoticism

"It was an...unmissable formula...McQueen's message throughout was essentially sunk into the short dress—a steady development of his engineered sea-reptile prints, worked into a nipped-waist, belled-skirt silhouette. The colors—first green and brown, moving to aqua and blue—were exceptionally executed and swagged, and molded across panniered structures. Each dress was a work of computer-generated art crossbred with McQueen's couture-based signature cut."The Guardian

25 comments:

Wow, this is absolutely incredible! Oh, I wish that I could get to the exhibit, but alas, I don't think it's possible...I love the butterfly headpiece and all the Scottish bits... also the ballet/gladiator shoes

You are reading my mind! I made my exhibition list this AM for the Met and this was on it along with the Serra exhibition,the two photography exhibitions and the roof sculpture. I knew you would be posting on this, its quite incredible.

Those tie-up-the-leg ballerina pink shoes!!!!! I'm always on the lookout for shoes that look beautiful AND stay on my feet for playing the harp - there's nothing worse than having your shoe fly off when you're changing pedals during the bride's processional!

Carol, I saw this show today, and as I went up the Met's escalator to the exhibit's floor, I was saying a little prayer that the exhibit would be as good as it really could be.

And it was! The crowding of the folks around me did get in the way of my being able to see as much as I wished. Well...just got to return as many times as possible.

The vision, the expert tailoring details, the decorative embellishing, the colors, the materials, the inspirations from nature. The exhibit itself, with its lighting, display cases, music...that kinky accessories room really stopped the folks in their tracks today.

The Kate Moss hologram could be viewed many times, and then it's grand to see that feathery dress just across the darkened room.

Just wish that Mr Mcqueen himself could have been amongst the multitudes at the Met today, seeing how we loved the opportunity to appreciate his creativity.

The matching of the tartans in their bias seaming. The wooden planked walls, that line drawing blown up to wallpaper scale. The shoes, the hats, the masks, the feathers, the metal, the water. Well, there's lots to see.

This is an INCREDIBLE book. I love the transforming cover! Based on the upcoming exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the book includes statuesque models painted white like mannequins adorned in Mcqeen's designs.

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♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5. I'm still at it on l'Ile Saint-Louis In Paris. Subscribe to my watercolor Paris letters and maps on Etsy and enjoy a Parisian souvenir in your mailbox every month. Savor with a hot chocolate and croissant.
I paint Paris dreams.